


A Dance of Lightning

by ChaosIsOrder



Category: Katekyou Hitman Reborn!
Genre: Dying Will Flames (Katekyou Hitman Reborn!), For Science!, Friendship, Lightning Guardian Miura Haru, No Beta, Science, Skilled Miura Haru, Unconventional Uses for Dying Will Flames, We die like cowards
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-19
Updated: 2020-10-08
Packaged: 2021-03-05 19:55:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 9,524
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25990942
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChaosIsOrder/pseuds/ChaosIsOrder
Summary: From a young age, Miura Haru was inquisitive and scientifically minded. So, her mother taught her of the many incredible female scientists through history. Haru knew she wanted to become one of them, but things never go as planned. One day, Haru meets a strange boy from her cousin Kyouya's school, and the boy's even stranger tutor who happens to be connected to the Italian Mafia. She begins to discover the world isn't what she expected, and nor is her own heritage...
Relationships: Chrome Dokuro & Miura Haru & Sasagawa Kyouko, Gokudera Hayato & Miura Haru & Sasagawa Kyouko & Sawada Tsunayoshi & Yamamoto Takeshi, Miura Haru & Fon, Miura Haru & Sasagawa Kyouko, Miura Haru & Sawada Tsunayoshi
Comments: 9
Kudos: 34





	1. Prologue

**Haru, 10 years old**

“So class, your homework is to make a poster about your personal hero. Next week, you should be able to tell us all about somebody you admire. Class dismissed!” 

Haru stared out the window at the clouds above, disregarding the ringing bell indicating the end of the school day.  _ My personal hero, huh?  _

Later that evening, as Haru was sitting down to dinner with her parents, her parents had become acutely aware of their daughter being lost in thought.

“What’s got you thinking this time, munchkin?” Her father asked.

Haru put a finger to her chin, wondering how best to explain her thoughts. “Well, for homework we have to make a poster about our personal heroes... and I’m not sure who mine is.”

Her father chuckled. “Well, you’ve always loved science. How about someone like Albert Einstein? Or maybe Isaac Newton? Oh, how about Charles Darwin!” 

Haru’s mother shot her father one of those  _ looks _ , which Haru had begun to see happen more and more often. “You know what, Haru, dear? Once you finish eating, I’ll come help you with your project. It’s been a while since mommy’s helped you with your homework, hasn’t it!” 

Haru and her mother stayed up  _ hours _ past her bedtime that night, learning all about great women like Ada Lovelace, Marie Curie, and Katherine Johnson. In the end, Haru made a decision about her project. She thanked her mother for all the help, and declared that it was time to sleep.

* * *

**The next week**

“My hero” Haru announced, standing proudly in front of her pristine poster, “is Miura Mei, my mother. She is the one who introduced me to all my other new heroes, and showed me that I  _ can _ be a great scientist one day just like them.”

* * *

  
  



	2. Chapter 1 - An Ordinary Life

Ordinary leaves drifted through the air, falling from ordinary trees as a natural result of the planet’s ordinary seasonal cycles. Haru was walking along her ordinary route to her ordinary school, on a very ordinary day. Today, she was going to learn about ordinary things, like the Boltzmann Constant and Black-Body radiation. For breakfast, she had an ordinary bowl of cereal with ordinary milk while flipping through an ordinary issue of  _ Nature _ . For lunch, she was going to have an ordinary sandwich. 

Alas, her walk to school was by no means an ordinary experience. As she was walking, Haru heard a cry - a squeal of surprise and fear, accentuated by cracking specific to a developing teenage boy. Arriving at an intersection of pedestrian streets, Haru found the source of the cry - a somewhat familiar boy was on the ground, nervously backing away from a yapping  _ chihuahua _ . The boy had a spiky mess of brown hair, and a face filled with genuine panic. Over a  _ chihuahua _ . To the boy’s side was... an infant in a full suit and tie?

Some nagging feeling within Haru told her to just keep walking - keep walking and go on with her life. As a person who had been raised to be compassionate, Haru didn’t understand why she could possibly feel as though ignoring this boy was the right thing to do. And so she compartmentalised - filed away the mysterious impulse for later, and began turning to approach the boy and help him. No, she definitely wasn’t at all doing this to satiate her curiosity about why an infant would be wearing a full suit and tie, complimented by a neat little fedora with an orange band. 

As Haru turned, distracted by the many questions racing through her mind, all notions of finesse vanished from her body; her leg cramped and gave way, facilitating a swift introduction of her face to the concrete ground. A niggling anxiety in her mind hoped nobody noticed the graceless fall - if her mother caught wind of Haru misplacing a step and  _ cramping _ , she’d never hear the end of it.

Haru lifted her head and began to push up onto her knees so that she could massage away the cramp. Looking forward, she noticed that the strange situation had further unfolded. The chihuahua was now behind the closed gateway to its home, and another vaguely familiar teen had appeared - a pretty-looking girl with dirty-almost-blond hair who was squatting beside the infant. 

“Wow, so cute!” The girl said sweetly. 

“Ciaossu!” The baby greeted. The blending of language did not escape Haru’s notice - thanks to her father’s frequent co-authorship with mathematicians from Milan had granted her a smattering of Italian. The blend of ‘ciao’ and ‘ossu’ was far too precise to just be attributed to an infant’s developing speech. Perhaps he was being raised in a bilingual household?

“Ah, good morning!” The girl greeted back, snapping Haru out of her contemplative tangent.

The cramp started to relax, and Haru was able to stand up and enter the fray, set on finding out just what was going on with this unordinary situation. The budding cynophobe seemed to have moved on from his state of panic, given his embarrassed expression and indiscreet glances towards the blonde. 

“Hey, do you know who this baby is?” Haru asked, trying to come across as friendly. Unfortunately, the lingering pains in her leg had translated to her face, miscommunicating an expression of slight aggression.

The boy looked overwhelmed, as though it was an unfair question to which he had no answer. He looked to the infant, then to Haru, and back to the infant, and continued to be at a loss for words. 

“Why are you wearing a suit, little guy?” The blonde girl asked casually as though there was  _ nothing _ abnormal about it. 

“‘Cause I’m with the Mafia.” The baby deadpanned. Haru found herself continuing to be confused by the clarity of the infant’s enunciation, but wasn’t familiar with the developmental milestones of human speech - and so she also filed that thought away for later, once she’d had a chance to do some research. 

“Wow, so cool!” The girl praised. “I’m going to be late for school, so see you later, little guy!”

And then Haru’s brain caught up to processing  _ what _ the infant had said, and bafflement truly kicked in. Gears and cogs slowly turned inside Haru’s head, and she was vaguely aware that her mouth may have been hanging open. Another pulse of pain from her leg broke her concentration, and Haru had a chance to actually respond instead of gawking. 

“Uhhh... hey, kid. Where do you live? I’ll take you home!” Haru offered, trying to be helpful.  _ Oh god, that was worryingly creepy _ , she thought as her face flushed awkwardly. 

The baby looked up at her, still entirely passive. “No need - I live with No-Good Tsuna here, as his home tutor.”

Haru paused.  _ Hmm, perhaps he has some kind of condition halting growth of stature? I’m not so sure this person is an infant. But... Why the pacifier? _

“I... see. Sir, I’m so sorry for my unfair assumptions!” Haru blurted, her blush deepening in self-produced shame. 

The tiny self-proclaimed mafioso’s attention moved on, his eyes simply  _ leaving _ Haru’s direction as though she was no longer important. And then... “Hey, Tsuna, you have the hots for that girl Kyoko, don’t you?”

Tsuna flushed a shade of red far surpassing Haru’s own embarrassed complexion. “Hey, look. That girl is the cutest in school! And besides, it’s none of your business!” Tsuna’s attempt to be assertive over his tutor was entirely unconvincing.

“As your tutor, it’s my business to know about your relationships.” The tiny tutor responded calmly.

“I don’t remember ever hiring you!” Tsuna retorted, levelling with the kid somewhat angrily. “Just leave me alone already!” 

“I can’t do that,” the tutor said, grabbing Tsuna by the hand. And... putting Tsuna in an armlock. 

_ Umm... What? That was perfect form! There’s absolutely no way this person is a child! _ Haru’s thought whilst fighting the urge to dive back into bewildered conjecturing. 

Tsuna shouted for mercy, which was quickly granted. “Man... How can a baby be that strong?” Tsuna moaned. 

“I told you,” The tutor answered. “I’m a hitman.”

“Stop messing with me! That hitman and mafia stuff can’t be real!” Tsuna exclaimed.

“Have you told Sasagawa Kyoko how you feel?” The tutor asked, ignoring Tsuna’s exclamation. 

“Don’t be stupid...” Tsuna faltered.

“Why not?” The tutor pressed. 

“Didn’t I tell you? Kyoko is our school idol. I don’t stand a chance!” Tsuna looked to the side, avoiding his interrogator’s gaze.

“Your average test score is 17.5.”

_ Wow. _

“You can only vault over three boxes.”

_ Weak. _

“You can’t do a single chinup.”   


_ That’s fair, actually. Chinups are hard _ .

“A loser Tsuna who sucks at everything. Is that why?”

Haru felt bad for Tsuna, who was being heavily belittled by this child-sized  _ phenomenon _ , but felt entirely powerless to come to his defence. And yet, Tsuna appeared to be proud of these apparent accomplishments. “Yeah! Hey, why do you know so much about me?”

Haru couldn’t help but notice that the green chameleon that had been sitting on the tutor’s hat was gone, and he was now holding a magnifying glass of the exact same shades of green.  _ What?? _

“Your eyes tell me everything,” he said mockingly.

“Like hell they do! Anyway, forget about Kyoko. Sure, if I had an opportunity to go out with such a cute girl, I could die happy. But it would be a waste of time to try...”

“You really think like a loser.” 

“Shut up!”

“This is where I come in.” The tutor-hitman grinned, and the magnifying glass in his hand... transformed into the green chameleon, and then into a gun!? “Just die once. When you die, you’ll understand.”

Before Haru could do anything, and before Tsuna could finish his terrified protesting, the definite-hitman shot him. Right in the centre of his forehead. The bullet seemed to flash with a strange red light as it travelled, and Tsuna was knocked back by the force of the impact. When Tsuna’s body hit the ground, it didn’t move.

“WHAT THE FUCK?” Haru screamed, terrified.

“Just watch.” The hitman said smugly. 

Haru, not sure how to act in this absurd, mind-boggling, science-defying situation, looked at the body of Tsuna, laying still on the ground.  _ He was too young to- wait, what? _

As Haru was beginning to move from shock to horror, an orange flame spontaneously ignited on Tsuna’s forehead, and life seemed to return to his face. _ Too much life _ . 

“It’s Dying Will time!” The tiny hitman exclaimed, as his gun turned back into a chameleon. 

Tsuna’s  _ vitalised _ body rose with unrestrained - perhaps even wild - motions, and his clothing seemed to tear away. Fortunately, only the outer layers. 

“REBORN! I’LL TELL SASAGAWA KYOKO HOW I FEEL WITH MY DYING WILL! WHERE IS SASAGAWA KYOKO?” Tsuna roared, and then sprinted off at a speed that had to be impossible. The kid had no muscle on him and yet he just ran off at the speed of an olympic sprinter. 

_ What. The. Fuck. _

When Haru looked back, the formally dressed  _ violation of all that was scientific  _ was gone. An elegant “uhhh” emerged from Haru’s lips while her brain worked furiously to salvage some small shreds of remaining sanity. 

With her mind still truly, utterly confounded, Haru’s body began to move robotically towards her school. 

* * *

For the next week, Haru’s walks to school were a profoundly anxious experience. On the one hand, Haru’s common sense wanted absolutely nothing to do with Tsuna and his terrifying accomplice. And yet, her curiosity was dying to witness more, and unpack what made any of that series of events that was definitely not a product of spontaneous delirium. 

Along her now-tense walk to school, Haru heard the familiar voices that she was both terrified and desperate for. The tiny hitman was walking calmly as ever, up on the fencing that separated the housing from the sidepath. Overcome by an inexplicable desire to prove herself, Haru leapt smoothly up to the fencing. Gracefully, she walked along the narrow structures until she was a pace away from the small man.

“Ciaossu!” He greeted, looking up to make eye contact with Haru.

“My name is Miura Haru! What- Who are you?” Haru sputtered, presenting the peak of eloquence.

“Miura, huh? You may call me Reborn.” He replied.

“I- can- wha- Chameleon?” Haru babbled intelligently.  _ Shit. _

“No. Leon is mine,” Reborn asserted, seeming to interpret Haru’s attempts at human speech as a request to take his amphibian companion. 

“Leon? But... Chameleon. Gun. Magnifying glass? WHAT!?” Haru continued to stumble through her words, making a  _ magnificent _ impression. 

“Science, obviously.” Reborn smirked, seeming proud of his ambiguous response.

“That’s not..! You can’t just... No!” Haru urged, as her words finally returned to her. “There is  _ no _ way that science explains  _ that _ !”

Reborn displayed a contemplative look, putting a finger sagely to his chin. Then, the small man’s smirk grew ever so slightly before he spoke. “Number three: any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.” 

Haru blinked. “Clarke’s laws? No... wait. Explain... please?” 

“Heh. Miura indeed,” Reborn whispered mysteriously, just loud enough for Haru to hear. 

A jarring volume contrast then came into existence as a tiny cow-thing fell out of the sky. On closer inspection, the cow-thing seemed to just be a young child-sized form in a cow-print outfit complimented by horns. The boy seemed to be crying in pain, and Haru’s impulse to help entered an intense conflict with her newfound suspicion of strange child-looking people. In the end, her inner good samaritan won out yet again.

“Oh no, are you ok?” Haru said, attempting a soothing tone with some success. She dropped down from the fence to check the boy for any injuries. Once she’d ascertained that he was  _ somehow _ unharmed, Haru looked up to notice that Tsuna and Reborn had run off.

The cow-boy’s attempt to regain composure was entirely foiled when he too seemed to notice the disappearance of Tsuna and Reborn. His hands grasped his bushy mess of hair as he descended once again. “Hold... it... in! Hold... it... in! Aha! Lambo is fine now! Lambo is on his way to assassinate the foolish Reborn!”   
  
Once again, Haru’s confusion threw her into a haze as the small cow-boy, apparently named Lambo, ran off in the direction of Tsuna and Reborn. And so, Haru went to school.

* * *

_ I swear I’m not a stalker! I swear I’m not a stalker! I swear I’m not a stalker!  _ Haru repeated over and over in her head as she waited around the corner from the Tsuna’s home, which she had definitely  _ not _ found by following him home one day after school. When she saw Tsuna approaching, Haru quickly hid behind a bin and peered over it. He seemed to be accompanied by Reborn, and two unfamiliar boys who wore the same Namimori Middle uniform as him. One was tall and muscular, with short dark hair. He seemed jovial to say the least, as though he hadn’t a care in the world. The other, not quite as tall, had distinct silver-dyed hair, alongside a rougher demeanor. Everything about that boy spoke to the stereotypical image of a delinquent, but Haru was beginning to learn that nothing surrounding Tsuna and Reborn was ever as it seemed. 

After the quartet went inside, Haru remained by the trash can, trying to decide how to proceed. Just as she was planning to give up and leave, Haru felt a hand on her shoulder. Startled, she turned quickly. She may have squeaked a bit, too. An appropriate response to the appearance of a kindly looking woman, holding a couple bags of groceries.

“You must be one of Tsuna’s friends. Come in, come in!” The woman beckoned.

“Uh...” Haru began to protest, but was pulled inside anyway. Within moments, Tsuna’s mother was handing Haru a tray of snacks and drinks, and pushing her up the stairs. 

“His room is the one on the right, dear!” Tsuna’s mother directed.

Tentatively, Haru opened the door. “I have snacks...?” Haru said, sounding even more confused than she looked.

“You! What are you doing here?” Tsuna exclaimed, startled. Something about Tsuna’s reaction reassured Haru, as though she wasn’t alone in her now near-constant bafflement.

“Honestly? I have absolutely no idea,” Haru conceded, unsure of what else to say. Haru then proceeded to join the boys, setting down the tray of snacks and taking a seat around the low desk as though it was the obvious course of action.

“Wow, Tsuna! You know someone from Midori Middle! That’s an elite selective school! Maybe she can help solve problem seven!” The tall, muscular boy said cheerily as he seemed to notice the emblem on Haru’s own school uniform.

“Oho? What’s this problem seven, then? We’ll have this done in no time!” Haru asked, hoping dearly that whatever academics they were working on would be something that  _ made sense _ . 

Before Haru had a chance to see what she was getting herself into, the silver-haired boy interjected with a direct challenge. “Done in no time? As if someone like  _ you _ could solve this!”

“Someone like me?” Haru shot back, affronted by this boy’s implication. “You’ve got me all wrong, jerk! This will be a cinch!”

Looking at one of the worksheets on the desk, Haru found ‘problem seven’ and read over it.

‘ _ Prove that when 100 sheets of paper, 11.5cm long on each side, will stack up perfectly when dropped from a height of 3 meters.’ _

Haru sat for a good ten minutes, staring at the page and occasionally scribbling an idea down. She mulled over the basic principles of aerodynamics after trying to break down the question into workable components. But still, she was stumped. What could possibly make the papers land perfectly? The uncertainty alone made it too hard to prove. With the lightness of the paper and how it tends to move through the air, Haru couldn’t think of any way to generalise the motion in a way that would possibly explain the scenario as required. 

The silver boy seemed fed up with waiting. “No need to feel bad, miss. Someone like you could never solve this, but at least you tried.”

“Shush, I’m trying to think!” Haru snapped, grasping for her train of thought desperately, knowing she was onto something. As her thoughts collected, Haru shouted a victorious “Aha!” and began furiously scribbling on the nearest sheet of paper.

“I’ve figured it out! We’ve all been overthinking this question too much, but it’s actually really simple,” Haru exclaimed. “It’s just a trick question. There is no way that paper could naturally fall like that reliably. If you asked me to find the probability it lands in the stack, I could do that - and it would be really,  _ really _ small. But they didn’t ask for the probability. They said to prove that it does fall into a stack!”

Haru looked at the boys expectantly, as though she had explained everything fully. To her great disappointment, they were visibly confused. “Well, for it to happen with certainty, you could just  _ glue  _ the paper. Then, if you use this much glue spread out so that it covers enough surface area to minimise fluttering of the edges of the paper, you get certainty that it will land in a stack without separating. Here!”

Haru proudly displayed her work to the group. Tsuna and the tall boy stared blankly at the math, while the silver-head seemed to be going over each line, checking the working.

“Huh.” The silver-haired boy remarked, sighing a sigh of hesitant resignation. “I mean... it checks out, I guess.” 

Haru wore a victorious look on her face for a few seconds, and then gasped. “Oh, I totally forgot to introduce myself to you two! I’m Miura Haru.”

“Gokudera Hayate. I’m the Tenth’s right hand man!” The silver haired boy proclaimed proudly.

“Yamamoto Takeshi, I’m one of Tsuna’s classmates too!” The tall boy introduced himself, still smiling cheerfully.

Amidst the uncontrollable spiralling descent of Haru’s life into the world of chaos where nothing made sense, Haru found a place. She’d never really fit in at her school, but finally she’d found some friends. 


	3. Chapter 2 - Underestimation

Haru was pouring some milk over her cereal as her mother barged into the room energetically. Miura Mei was a woman who constantly defied the stereotype that as one reached the age of parenthood, they would lose their 'wilder' side. When something caught Mei's interest, she pursued it avidly, and would not be held back. It was like this when Haru was _vigorously_ exposed to the many incredible women who had been a part of advancing the world of science. It was like this too when Mei decided, several years ago, that it was time for Haru to learn to defend herself. ' _Horrible as it may be, us women need to be able to protect ourselves. Besides, my family back home would kill me if I didn't pass on what I know,'_ she had said.

"Haruyoshi, Haru, will you two be alright without me for dinner tonight?" Mei asked quickly as she zoomed about the house collecting her belongings with a dexterity that any onlooker would find absurd. Haru's father, Haruyoshi, grunted an affirmation.

"What's the occasion this time?" Haru inquired. She noticed that her mother was dressed in activewear, and was now carrying an old-looking leather satchel that Haru had never seen before.

"A relative of mine from China is in town, so I'm going to catch up with him. I might be out until late." Mei announced, and then she was gone.

"Huh. Why doesn't she invite this relative over for dinner _with_ us," Haru asked aloud, to nobody in particular.

"If it's who I think it is, he's a bit of a strange one. Even I've never met him. What was his name, now... Fran? Finn? Ron? Ack, I don't know!" Haruyoshi responded.

 _Father dearest,_ Haru thought disappointedly, _none of those names sound even remotely Mandarin. Unless this guy has taken on an anglicised name, why would it be anything like any of those?_

* * *

Later that day, during maths class, Haru was off in her head as usual. It's not like they ever covered material she didn't already know, anyway. She was staring out the window of her classroom, about to doze off, when she saw a bright flash in the sky. She shook her head, trying to snap out of it, and realised that yes, there most definitely was a large cloud of dark smoke in the sky. Why yes, there most definitely was just a _large explosion_ in the sky, and it certainly wasn't fireworks. Somehow she just _knew_ it had something to do with Tsuna and Reborn. After all, what strange occurrences these days _weren't_ to do with them?

After school, Haru decided to go by Tsuna's place. As crazy as his life was, Haru couldn't deny that Tsuna and his friends were enjoyable company. Haru had begun to grow especially fond of the girl Kyoko that Tsuna was clearly infatuated with - she was always kind and genuine, and so easy to talk to.

When she arrived, however, things were in chaos. There was _another_ strange infant running around, and Gokedera seemed to have Lambo in a _chokehold_.

"Gokudera, what are you doing to poor Lambo?!" Haru yelled angrily. "Let him go, now!"

Gokudera grumbled something inaudible and relaxed his grip on the cow-print child before pushing him away roughly. Haru glared daggers at him, but was greeted by Tsuna before she could react to Gokudera's aggression any further.

"Haru, what are you doing here?" Tsuna asked. He seemed... stressed, to say the least. His hair was messier than usual, and his expression was particularly tense.

Haru looked around, not seeing Reborn anywhere. "I came to hang out! Why is it that every time I come you seem to acquire another small child? So, who's the new kid?"

The new child in question ran up to Haru, seeming to give her a look over. The kid then pointed straight at Haru and shouted "Shumai Monster!"

"Hahi!?" Haru gasped. "Why shumai?"

At that moment, Lambo jumped up excitedly and started dancing around, yelling and poking out his tongue whilst pulling a variety of strange faces. "I'm broccoli! Broccoli!"

Before Haru could even have a chance to ask any questions or figure out what was going on, the situation unfolded into further chaos rapidly. The new kid shouted something, took on what looked like a combat stance, and then Lambo was flying across the room into the wall. Haru was sure that nothing made contact with Lambo, and yet he certainly did soar across the room.

"Hold... it.. in..." Lambo began crying. "Lambo-san won't be defeated by someone with a funny head!" Tsuna tried to intervene, but Lambo kept going. "You're a tail head! Tail head! Tail head!"

The new kid seemed to look upset at this, and then suddenly a series of 9 circular symbols appeared on the kid's head. At the same time, the child's body language changed dramatically, becoming rigid and panicked.

Then, Tsuna yelled "it's the countdown!"

"That dangerous game again?" Yamamoto called out cheerfully. He raised his hands to his chest, and held them as though ready to catch a ball. _No... Please, don't let this be what I think it is!_

In those moments, the 9 symbols had somehow turned to four symbols, and the child was grabbing fiercely onto Tsuna. Panicking, Tsuna began shaking his leg wildly, trying to throw the poor child off. When that didn't work, Gokudera leapt at the child and began pulling with all his might.

"What are you doing, being so rough with these kids, Gokudera?" Haru protested.

"Now's not the time for this!" Gokudera shouted back.

Amidst the panic, Lambo started crying again, and began pulling something that looked like a purple bazooka out of his hair.

 _Has science packed its bags and gone on vacation or something?_ Haru complained internally. Her mind flashed back to the remark Reborn had made the second time they met. _Sufficiently advanced technology my ass, this is way too absurd!_

At this point, Reborn has arrived en scene, and kicked Lambo in the back. This resulted in the bazooka flying into the child on Tsuna's leg. Then, a massive puff of smoke filled the room.

"You used the Ten Year Bazooka on I-Pin?" Haru heard Tsuna ask.

"Right, so the explosion took place in the future." Reborn confirmed.

"Then the person here is..." Tsuna began, as the smoke cleared up.

Standing where the infant, apparently named I-Pin, had been, was a teenage girl dressed in all white with thin black twin braids. She was carrying some kind of metal case, and looked very lost.

"What gives? I was making a delivery and I ended up here?" The girl looked around, confused.

Tsuna apparently had other issues on his mind. "No way, I-Pin's a girl?!"

"Who's this, someone you know?" Yamamoto asked.

 _Well at least someone else in the room is looking for the most rational possibility. But, my friend, I think the gods of science have abandoned us_. Haru thought, invoking the escape of a single tear from her eyes.

The girl seemed a bit concerned with her situation, but not all that perturbed. "This is bad... The ramen is going to get soggy! Mr. Kawahira's really fussy about them."

"She's fluent in Japanese too." Tsuna remarked.

"Oh, Sawada! Good afternoon." The girl smiled at Tsuna.

"I-Pin, you're... a lot more feminine." Tsuna responded dumbly.

"What are you saying? Flattery will get you nowhere, but nice try!" The apparent I-Pin responded, waving Tsuna off.

"Then, what about the Mahjongg Mega Bomb? And what about kempo?" Tsuna pressed.

"Geez, Sawada. I gave that up a long time ago, didn't I?" I-Pin replied. "I have to work lots to save up for college!"

 _Either I'm going crazy, this is time travel, or, most likely, both._ Haru sighed, exasperated.

I-Pin then went on to explain that her master had sealed away this 'Mahjongg Mega Bomb' with a trigger word, which Haru rationalised from her little understanding of this entire situation to mean that the girl had undergone some form of hypnotic therapy. The group all walked outside together, as I-Pin seemed to be in a hurry to make some delivery. It seemed clear that she was somehow from the future, and yet she wasn't aware that she was in her past. Everything seemed to have cooled down... until Lambo caught up with the group outside Tsuna's house.

"Hey, what happened to the tail head?" Lambo nagged.

I-Pin seemed to freak out a little upon recognising the sight that was Lambo. "Ah! Broccoli monster..." She grasped her head and screamed. _Well, shit._

Then I-Pin seemed to _change_ , and those strange circular symbols appeared on her head. More drama ensued as I-Pin leapt at Tsuna and grabbed onto him, gripping tightly as though the world might end if she let go. The symbols kept counting down, until there was only one left. Connecting the dots between everybody's panic, the necessity for _hypnotic therapy_ and the big explosion Haru had seen earlier in the day, Haru froze in fear. Her life practically started flashing before her eyes as she realised that this might be where she would die.

There was a loud cracking noise accompanied by a flash of light, and a concussive wave blasted everyone back. A moment later, Haru opened her eyes in time to see fading wisps of pink smoke. Haru blinked, realised she was still alive, and gradually pushed herself up. Once she realised what had happened, she shakily stood and looked around to make sure everyone was ok. Fortunately, nobody seemed to be particularly visibly injured - not even I-Pin, who was lying on the ground in the centre of a small scorched blast zone. As the group all managed to push themselves up, Reborn arrived back with the group.

The miniature hitman seemed to at least have some sense of decency, as he went around to ensure that nobody had suffered a concussion or any other serious injuries. At that point, Haru decided she had enough for one day. She hurriedly excused herself and _ran_ home for a warm shower.

* * *

If someone asked Haru how she ended up inbetween a martial arts turf war at Namimori Middle, she would grumble something about a dumb paper areoplane. The darned thing seemed to materialise out of nowhere, soaring through an open window of her classroom and impacting in the dead centre of her forehead.

' _Come to the Boxing Gym at Namimori Middle straight after school if you want to see something interesting._

_Reborn.'_

And so, straight after school, Haru found herself at Namimori Middle, in their boxing gym, refereeing a fight between Tsuna and Kyoko's older brother Ryohei. The fact that Reborn was wearing an elephant hat and pretending to take on the persona of one 'Master Paopao' hardly even phased Haru anymore - she was so incredibly used to the shenanigans by this point.

Entirely in line with Haru's expectations, the match started out overwhelmingly in Ryohei's favour. He was well built with lean muscle, and moved like a seasoned boxer. Meanwhile, No-Good Tsuna, who could barely do a pushup without one of Reborn's 'technologically advanced' bullets, was a muscle-less twig.

Of course, that all changed when Reborn went ahead and shot both Tsuna and Ryohei with said magic bullets. Tsuna went through the usual motions of shouting 'REBORN' and professing the task he would complete with his 'dying will'. Meanwhile, Ryohei seemed entirely unaffected. Apparently this was "because he always lives his life to the extreme". In the end, Tsuna won the match, which baffled Haru despite the magical power-up, given how wild and predictable Tsuna's motions were.

Ryohei picked himself up and shook Tsuna's hands, still in startlingly good spirits. He gave an impressively passionate attempt at recruiting a bewildered Tsuna into the boxing club which was doomed to fail. Things then seemed to wind down - until a group of boys in karate outfits marched in, two of them holding giant standard poles. One of the members of this intrusive group, easily the largest and probably the leader, shouted something about revenge for his brother. Then, he challenged Ryohei to a fight, pointed at Kyoko, and asserted that "the winner of the match gets to "keep Kyoko".

"Kyoko's not some prize to be won!" Haru screamed furiously.

"They really want Kyoko to be their manager," Kyoko's friend Hana shrugged, as though casually explaining a common fact.

"Fuck that! And fuck this dumb turf war. Hey, you!" Haru cursed, pointing at the big guy who seemed to be the leader of the karate group. " _Back off_!"

The big guy looked at Haru, seeming to size her up, and scoffed at her. "Or what, _princess_?"

"You're right, I should be clearer about my intentions," Haru said in a thoughtful tone, very clearly mocking the boy. "Back off, _please_ , before you embarrass yourself in front of your little posse. Because if you want to get to Kyoko, you have to go through _me_ first."

The whole group of boys just stared, as though they couldn't tell if Haru was joking or not. One started laughing, and the rest followed suit. Behind her, Haru's friends were hardly of any more help.

"Is she... okay?" Hana asked the others hesitantly. "This girl's going to get herself hurt or something."

"Um... Haru? Maybe you shouldn't say stuff like that," Tsuna pleaded worriedly.

The laughing had begun to subside, and the leader stepped forward. "You've got some real nerve, _girlie._ I'll tell you what. I'll fight you, one on one. _If_ you win, we'll leave and never bother Kyoko again - _man's honour_. If I win, we get Kyoko."

"Deal," Haru said loudly, just to make sure that everyone heard.

"Haru, what are you doing?" Tsuna yelped, overcome by a characteristic wave of panic.

Haru looked at him, her face calm and _controlled_. She didn't even have to say anything to him, because 'Master Paopao' jumped in to her defence. "Just shut up and watch, No-Good Tsuna."

Haru stepped into the ring, followed by the burly leader of the karate group. 'Master Paopao' took it upon himself to referee this time. On his signal, Haru's opponent sent out a jab with his right hand, directed at her face. Slow though it was, Haru could tell that there was a lot of force behind the punch. Instinctively, letting her years of sparring experience kick in, Haru weaved her own right arm around the outside of his before twisting, using her full body weight to push his swinging limb aside. Riding the momentum of her twist, Haru let out a sharp punch with her free hand, digging into the boy's now exposed back.

The boy grunted, stumbled, and then turned to face Haru again. Haru stood relaxed, with an almost lazy guard as though to taunt her opponent. Aggravated by her aloofness, the boy charged in, going for another punch. "Aren't you supposed to be good at Karate?" Haru taunted _while_ casually avoiding his attempts to hit her with punch after punch. "All I'm seeing is drunken brawling."

"Why, you!" The boy snarled, and continued his relentless, ineffective assault.

 _Who trained this idiot?_ Haru wondered as she picked up on the pattern to the boy's strikes and took the next opportunity to throw her weight into a kick that drove into the boy's gut. He crumpled in on himself, completely winded and struggling to catch his own breath.

"And the fight goes to Haru!" 'Master Paopao' declared cheerfully.

* * *

In the coming weeks, Haru conceded that hanging out with this group was far more fun than anything else she had going in her life. Numerous equally absurd adventures were had - notable were the one with the absurdly unrealistic disease called "skullitis", and the time when this actual mafia family called the Cavallone Family showed up and faked a kidnapping resulting in the demise of an actual Yakuza group.

One morning, Haru woke suddenly as the lights came on in her room. She noticed that it was still dark outside, and that her mother was standing in the doorway of her bedroom.

"Good morning Haru, have you heard the news?" Miura Mei frowned grimly.

"News? Mom, what time is it?" Haru asked, raising an arm to try and shield herself from the invading light.

"It's four in the morning, and there are three kids from Namimori Middle in hospital."

Haru sat up suddenly, her eyes now wide open. "WHAT? Who? Are my friends OK?"

"Haru, I called Nana as soon as I heard. Tsuna is fine, and she says that your other friends are also OK." Mei informed her.

Haru remembered to breathe, and relaxed for a moment. Then, afraid of what her mother might say, "No! I'm not going to stay away from them, they're my friends and I can't just abandon them!" Haru shouted defensively.

Mei coughed. "Oh hush, you silly girl. I'm _hurt_ that you think I would even contemplate suggesting such a thing. I'm proud to have raised a daughter who kicks ass as well as you. If it were me, I'd want to do what I could to protect my friends. And do you know what that means?" Haru's mother grinned menacingly, and Haru was filled with apprehension. "Time to step up your training! Up you get, we've no time to waste."

Haru grumbled about how early it was, but then conceded. Rolling out of bed and standing up, Haru got herself changed into clothes suitable for training once her mother had stepped out to give her privacy. A few minutes later, Haru was doing some warm up stretches in the family's small, bare training room. The sound of the door opening and closing betrayed Mei's entrance, and Haru noticed that she was carrying a familiar leather pouch, alongside a fancy-looking wooden case that definitely _wasn't_ familiar. Her expression was far more tempered than usual, carrying a strange weight that was unlike anything Haru had ever seen before

"My cousin who recently visited is an esteemed martial arts champion. Few have ever been able to beat him, and I most certainly am not one of them! But I've come pretty close, and it's time for me to teach you a style that I've used to hold a candle to that man. These, my dear daughter," Mei opened the box, "are butterfly swords. As is my family's tradition, I've saved these for you - until the time came for me to teach you how to use them. I want you to keep them with you for the next few weeks, until these attacks are put to an end. Now, pick them up so we can start your training."


	4. Chapter 3 - Kokuyo Centre

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Haru helps to defend Namimori from Mukuro's gang, and mothers appear to know more than they let on.

**AN:** Sorry for the big delay! This isn't my primary fic and I've been pretty busy lately. But I've finally gotten this out, and _hopefully_ another will come soon!

_________________________________________________________

When she finished the training session with her mother, Haru decided to call Kyoko - just to make sure she was okay. When Kyoko picked up, Haru immediately heard the muffled sobs. “Kyoko, what happened?!”

“Oh Haru! It’s my brother, he’s been hurt. They... they found him by the road a couple hours ago. He just went for a jog, and now he’s in the hospital! They told me he fell from a chimney but I’m not stupid, I know this is to do with the recent assaults,” Kyoko answered shakily, audibly still in tears.

“Shit, is he alright?”    


“The doctors said he should be okay in a day or so. I just don’t understand why anyone would do this!”

“It’s awful, hey? Look, do you want me to come join you at the hospital?”

“That’s... thank you, I’d really like that. Just... be careful, okay?”

“Of course!” Haru hung up. She grabbed her new blades, put them in a canvas satchel, and set off towards the hospital. Along the way, Haru decided to also give Tsuna a ring, since he was always wrapped up in any form of chaos ever to occur in Namimori.

“Hey, Tsuna, did you hear about Ryohei?”

“Yeah, um... I did, it’s really awful. But everything will be okay soon! Hibari from the Disciplinary Committee has gone after them. He’s really-”

“Absurdly strong? Excessively violent? Yeah, I’m sure Kyoya’s got it under control.”

“...Kyoya? Haru, you know Hibari?”

“Know him? That nutcase is my cousin, Tsuna! Still, I have a bad feeling about this.”  
  


~

_ Namimori Central Hospital _

When Haru arrived, it was clear that things were beyond chaotic. The halls were packed with Namimori Middle students alongside many distraught parents and family members. Doctors and nurses were rushing about, sometimes pushing injured students around in gurneys. Haru tried to approach one of the desks to ask an admin worker where to find Kyoko and her brother, but couldn’t get through on account of everyone else trying to ask about whoever they’d come for. She was about to start asking around to see if any of the students could point her in the right direction when she spotted Tsuna and Reborn. Tsuna was holding a sheet that looked more like parchment than paper, and looking more panicked than usual. Haru walked towards them just in time for Tsuna to run past without even noticing her.

Haru turned to face Reborn, about to ask where Kyoko was, when she saw Leon. At least, she thought it was Leon. The shape-changing chameleon seemed to be morphing every few seconds, as though uncontrollable. As much as she wanted to ask, she had another priority right now. “Reborn, where’s Kyoko?”   


“Three doors down, to the right,” Reborn offered, seeming entirely unfazed by the instability of his reptilian companion. “Be ready, Tsuna will need your support today.”

“Support?” Haru asked, only to find that Reborn had vanished. Filing that way in her mind for later, Haru ran to the room Reborn had indicated, barging in to find Kyoko sitting by her brother’s side. Kyoko didn’t seem in the mood to talk, so Haru pulled up a chair and sat by her side. Kyoko wanted her to be there, so Haru would stay a while - even if in silence.

A couple of hours later, Kyoko had fallen asleep with her head resting on her brother’s bedside. Haru stared out the window, watching clouds pass by as she contemplated the craziness that had filled her life ever since she had met Tsuna and Reborn. All of the chaos that had taken residence in Namimori seemed to revolve around Tsuna - and much of it seemed to be instigated by Reborn. 

Haru was snapped out of her thoughts by the sound of her phone receiving a text message. She flipped open her phone to reveal a message from an unfamiliar number, saying “Sawada Residence, now.”  
  


~

  
Haru hadn’t even changed out of her training gear before leaving for the hospital, so she saw no reason to stop at home on her way to Tsuna’s place. She had her suspicions as to who sent her the text and why she was being called in; a light grey exercise jumper, black legging and her flashy pink sneakers would be perfectly suitable attire. As she jogged along the roadside, Haru’s thoughts wandered to the wellbeing of her cousin. 

Kyoya was crazy, and crazy strong. Haru understood why people relaxed when they heard that he had gone to deal with the attackers, but she didn’t feel the same way. Kyoya had a tendency to... rush in alone without thinking things through, simply because he had too much confidence in his own strength. Usually that worked out for him, but this felt  _ different _ . This was far more dangerous than Kyoya’s usual routine of suppressing violence through fear. 

As Haru turned the corner to Tsuna’s house, she noticed Yamamoto and Gokudera arriving from another direction. She slowed to a stop beside them, waiting at the door to be let in. Yamamoto had his usual cheery expression, as though he didn’t have a care in the world. Haru often wondered if the boy actually understood what was going on or not. He had a long, narrow fabric case of some kind slung over his shoulder; Haru suspected it contained that maddeningly unscientific transforming baseball bat. Beside him, Gokudera clutched at his hip in a way that suggested injury.  _ Will he be okay? Or is he just, in usual Gokudera fashion, trying too hard to impress Tsuna? _

The door opened, revealing a casually dressed Tsuna, with Reborn’s small form by his feet. Behind them stood Bianchi, wearing some ridiculous squirrel suit that covered most of her body and the upper half of her face. More surprising than seeing Bianchi like that was seeing Gokudera perfectly fine looking directly at her - apart from an expression of sheer embarrassment.  _ Is his traumatic trigger connected to seeing her face, or something? _

“Great, you’re all here. Haru, we need you to stay behind. Everyone else, let’s go!” Reborn exclaimed, voice laden with pep. 

“Hahi?” Haru squeaked in surprise. “Stay behind?”

“Reborn, that’s crazy!” Tsuna protested. “Haru’s like, crazy strong! Shouldn’t she come with us?”

“No, Boss, just think about it.” Everyone turned to face Gokudera, who had apparently gotten over his reaction to his sister’s outfit. “These assholes have openly attacked people in the streets. When they came for me, heaps of people saw us fight. Reborn’s right, Haru should stay behind  _ because _ she’s so strong. What if, while we’re taking the fight to them, they send someone here? What if they try to take your mom hostage, for example?”

Reborn nodded, pleased. Tsuna’s face quickly fell into panic as he came to understand what Gokudera was saying. Before he had a chance to say anything, Bianchi cut in.

“Haru, if you were the enemy, looking for someone to take hostage, who would you go for? If you had been watching Tsuna, who would you know is important to him that you could target?” As Bianchi spoke, Tsuna’s expression grew more and more appalled and afraid.

Haru thought about it. “Nana, Kyoko and Ryohei.”

“Very good,” Bianchi responded. “So, we know who they’d prefer to target. We have limited resources to fend them off - only so many people who will keep an eye out. How can we ensure that they don’t see those people well protected and find someone else to hurt?”

Haru’s face lit up in dawning recognition. She’d never had to think like this before, and it was scary. But still, she found the dots connection perhaps  _ too _ easily in her mind. “If you put bodyguards only at the front door, they’ll go for the back! So you make them think there aren’t any guards.”

“Excellent,” Reborn clapped. “Now that you understand, I can tell you that we have Nana and the kids safely looked after.”

“Right! I know what I need to do,” Haru announced as she turned to leave. “Be careful out there, okay?”

  
~  
  


“So, shall we begin with this one?” Birds taunted. 

Tsuna looked up at the screen, at that  _ monster _ behind Kyoko. And she had no idea it was even there! Panicking, Tsuna realised that his only option was to do what Birds said.  _ Where is Haru? She’s supposed to be looking after Kyoko! _

Just as Birds was giving the order to have Kyoko  _ killed _ , Tsuna spoke up. “Wait! There’s no way I’ll let Kyoko get mixed up in something that doesn’t involve her!” 

“Oh, so you’ll do it?” Birds sneered. 

Tsuna stepped forward and picked up the blade hesitantly. 

“You have ten seconds.” Birds advised.

Tsuna steeled himself, terrified of the blade but also ashamed he couldn’t make himself move quicker to protect Kyoko. The shouts from his friends weren’t making things any easier. Eventually, he knew what he had to do, and began driving the blade towards his leg. Just as it was about to cut into him, he heard an awful, curdling hissing noise. Hopeful, he halted the movement of the blade just before it pierced his skin.

When Tsuna looked up at the screen, he saw one of those horrible _ , inhuman _ assassins on the ground. Across the screen stood an unfamiliar woman who looked to be at least as old as his own mother. She was wearing a beautiful grey qipao with red trims, and stood firmly in front of Kyoko, hands balled into fists. Before the creature had an opportunity to get back up, the woman  _ flew _ across the cement path, landing with a knee on its chest. The creature squirmed, and Tsuna winced as she swiftly punched the thing’s nose, after which it seemed to stop trying to break free.

_ Oh thank god! _ Tsuna thought to himself.  _ But who is she? She looks a bit like Haru, and she’s crazy strong _ !

“Well now, hold on. Have you all forgotten?” Birds spoke, still grinning sadistically. “There’s one more over there, you know.”

The screen turned to show Tsuna’s mom sitting beside Haru, and he couldn’t help but giggle out of relief. After all, Haru could definitely take care of this.

“What? If you don’t want this precious girl to die, you should continue with that sword quickly!” Birds snapped.

Tsuna tossed the sword to the side, and shot a defiant glare at Birds.  
  


~  
  


Haru could feel the repulsive heat coming off the figure behind her. She snuck a glance out of the corner of her eye, seeing long  _ talons  _ on the edge of her vision. This person had been there for a while, and Haru had been actively steadying her breathing ever since. She had to keep part of her attention on holding conversation with Nana. In any other situation, chatting with Tsuna’s mom would have been a delight. She was witty and caring, and seemed to have a way of making people feel loved with the barest of sentences. 

Right now, all Haru could think about was making sure that she kept up the act in order to get the jump on this would-be assassin. As calmly as she could, Haru reached into the satchel on her lap, closing her fingers around the handle of her stacked blades.

Once Haru was ready to strike, she took in a breath, and  _ whirled _ . Bringing the blades out of her bag with one hand, Haru quickly turned to slash at the  _ thing _ that was behind her. As she moved, accompanied by Nana’s surprised scream, she let one of the blades fall from her grip while the other travelled towards the creature behind her. In the same moment that she felt one of the blades connect, she grabbed the other out of the air with her free hand. Haru was so glad it had been waiting for something, because that gave her the time to prepare. And now, it was going to wish it had never waited. 

As Haru was standing up on the bench to face this  _ thing _ , it tried to swipe back at her from her left. She deftly weaved her right forearm behind the arm swiping at her. Haru pushed on the creature’s arm, throwing her full body weight into the motion. The assassin was pushed to her right, exposing its back. Capitalising on the short moment of vulnerability, Haru rode the momentum of her own push, bringing her left hand slashing towards the creature, once again cutting into it with her blade. A deep gash coloured its chest, and it stumbled backwards. This attacker was caught off guard, clearly not having expected Haru to be capable of defending herself and Nana. That element of surprise wouldn’t last long, and so Haru needed to finish this now. She jumped off the bench towards the creature. She dropped her full body weight onto the creature, landing her feet squarely on its chest.

For good measure, she lowered herself down and executed a swift but firm blunt strike to its nose, just like her mom had once taught her.

Once Haru was sure that the threat was completely gone, she turned back to face Nana. Though Haru expected a look of sheer terror, that was not what the kindly woman wore. She seemed oddly calm about it, as though this wasn’t an entirely unfathomable situation. “Are you okay, Haru dear?”

Haru was taken aback by just how calm Nana seemed. “I- I’m alright. What about you?”

“Oh, you know. That was a bit scary, but I know that I’m being looked after by someone incredibly strong!” Nana smiled, and put a finger to her lip thoughtfully. “I wonder what that was all about, though?”

“Nana, could you excuse me for just one moment?” Haru asked, and the woman nodded. She pulled out her phone, and called the first number on her quick dial.

  
~  
  


“Nana, would you mind coming to my home? You’ll be much safer there, and I have somewhere I need to go.” Haru announced after getting off the phone.

“Of course, dear. Lets go, and then you can do what you need to do.”  
  


~

  
“Mom, are you home?” Haru called out.

Mei’s head popped out through the doorway to the lounge room. “Haru?”

“This is Tsuna’s mom, Nana. How is Kyoko?” Haru asked.

Mei led Haru and Nana into the dining room, where Kyoko was sipping from a cup of tea. When Kyoko heard Haru come in, she put down the tea, got up, and ran over to embrace her friend.

“Haru! Are you okay? What’s going on?” Kyoko rushed through her words in a panic.

“Kyoko, I’m fine! I don’t have time to explain right now, but you’ll be safe here. I know that Tsuna and the others try to hide things from you, but you deserve to know.” Haru promised, turning to rush back out the door.

Before she even got out of the room, Nana began to speak in her too-calm tone. “Actually, Kyoko dear, I can tell you what I know. But I need you to promise that you won’t ever tell Tsuna that I know what’s going on, okay? He’s so much happier without having to worry about me getting mixed up in this.”

Haru’s jaw dropped, and she mentally berated herself for underestimating Nana. With that attitude, of course she wasn’t as oblivious as she pretended to be.

“O-okay,” Kyoko stammered, sitting back down beside Nana. As much as Haru had a burning curiosity to find out just how much Sawada Nana knew about this mafia mixup, there was no more time to waste. 

“Oh, and Haru dear? They’re at Kokuyo Centre.” Nana called out just as Haru was leaving. She already knew they were somewhere in Kokuyo, the next town over, but not exactly where. Haru ran out to the main street, hailed down a taxi and fidgeted madly for the whole drive.

  
~  
  


When Haru arrived at Kokuyo Centre, the place was full of people dressed in medical gear. Among them were a few  _ presences _ \- Haru didn’t know how else to describe them. Tall figures, shrouded in deep black cloaks, carried heavy-looking chains. Some of them were leading groups of medics carrying people on stretchers, and something inside Haru told her that she didn’t want to get mixed up with that. From the outside, it looked like everything was already wrapped up. She didn’t see any of her friends on the stretchers or anywhere else nearby. 

One of the people being carried away reached out to Haru in passing. He looked to be a tall, muscular man with an incredibly fatigued look to his eyes. “Are you... one of his... friends?”

Haru assumed that the man meant Tsuna. After all, who else could it be? “Yes, do you know where Tsuna is?”

The man heaved his arm in order to point at one of the surrounding buildings. “In there...”   
  
That was all he had time to say before being carried off - the medics and those terrifying presences didn’t seem willing to wait. Haru turned and ran towards the building in question. When she arrived, she could easily spot a trail of rubble and chaos leading up the stairs. A few of those cloaked figures walked out of the room. Trailing behind them were the unconscious bodies of three teenagers wearing Kokuyo Junior High uniforms, being mercilessly dragged along, bound in chains. Haru stepped aside, letting them past and somehow  _ knowing _ that she shouldn’t question them. Then, when they were gone, she dashed into the room. 

The room was dark and wide, and there was broken debris  _ everywhere _ . Haru could make out the forms of several people spread about the space. Bianchi, Yamamoto, Gokudera and even Kyoya were on one side of the room. Haru didn’t even look to see what was on the other side - she ran over to each of them to check that they were  _ alive _ . They were. Haru turned, and saw Tsuna and Reborn. Tsuna was splayed out, cuts and bruises  _ all over _ his body. Reborn was sitting up against Tsuna’s back, apparently asleep. Haru ran to Tsuna’s side to see if he was okay. His breathing was steady, his pulse strong. Haru collapsed by his side, allowing herself to rest.


End file.
